The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.
=Halloween marked the official release of Nick Digilio's new book, 40 Years, 40 Films. Click here to order your copy today!
From Albert Brooks’ Lost in America (1985) to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024), each chapter is a heartfelt, hilarious, and razor-sharp essay on Digilio’s favorite film of the year, revealing not just his critical insights, but also the moments in his life that shaped (and were shaped by) these cinematic milestones. Alongside these 40 essays, the book includes full Top 10 lists from every year since 1985, as well as Nick’s personal picks from before his critic days, dating back to his childhood in Wrigleyville.
But this is more than a film book. It’s a candid biography, tracing Nick’s journey from movie-obsessed kid to respected voice in entertainment, through triumphs, turmoil, sobriety, and reinvention. Packed with behind-the-scenes stories, showbiz secrets, and genuine love for the art of cinema, 40 Years, 40 Films is a celebration of life at 24 frames per second.
=The book features a foreword written by the late Tony Fitzpatrick, and it's endorsed by the likes of Suzanne Vega.
=Come on out to meet Nick and see one of the classic films mentioned in the book, Body Double (directed by Brian DePalma), on November 12, from 7-10pm at Classic Cinemas Lake Theater (1022 Lake Street, Oak Park). He will also be signing and selling copies of the book at the show.
=The release of Nick's book comes on the one-year anniversary of The Flip Side. That great book was one of our biggest hits of last year.
=Birthed by Chicago natives Carl and Larry Rosenbaum, “The Flip Side” grew from an idea into a store and then into a chain. Somewhere along the way, those stores sprouted an entire second identity as Chicago’s premier concert promoter, putting on some of the biggest rock shows Chicago saw in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In so many ways, Flip Side defined music for hundreds of thousands of Chicagoland music fans. The Flip Side: Where Chicago Rocked takes you through the lifespans of both the record store chain as well as their concert business. We’ll give you a look ‘behind the counter’ and show you how everything was built, how it all lived and breathed, and we’ll share many of the fun and not-so-fun stories that took place. More than that, we’ll give you a warm look back and a chance to revisit what was a great time in Chicago and an even better time in rock and roll. As Emerson, Lake & Palmer so famously once said, welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.
=The book, by the way, is now in the Illinois Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Joliet), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland) and the Museum of Broadcast Communications (Chicago).
=Mob Adjacent now has it's own website for the film. This is getting real, folks. Meetings are taking place in Hollywood. More exciting announcements are on the way.
=Want an additional feel for what to expect? Check this out: A great Facebook reel from the audio book.
=One of the joys of the book Mob Adjacent is the way it intersects the world of the mafia with the world of Hollywood. One of the big stars of the era who is discussed in the book, Art Carney, was born this week in 1918 (November 4).
=Big week for Green White Soccer Club, the subject of our book Grun Weiss Vor! One of the club's long-time members, Kurt Melcher, was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame for his meritorious service. Kurt won State titles with Green White as a youth player and an adult player (he was a goalkeeper), played Division 1 soccer, and coached Division 1 Soccer for over 20 years, including dozens of World Cup players. He's the 4th winningest coach in history. Congratulations Kurt!
=This week in 2023, two additional stars from the book Grun Weiss Vor! were inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame as well. Marcus Laxgang was a Herman Award Winner as the best college soccer player in America, and Joe Filian played along the likes of Franz Beckenbauer on the New York Cosmos. Both players got their start at Green White Soccer Club. Filian was also on hand for Melcher's big night on Saturday.
=We've been teasing it for a few weeks now, but this is the week for Vicki Atkinson's return appearance to Harper College. She will be reading from her book "Surviving Sue" Building F, David K. Hill Family Library, F226 Thursday, November 6,11:00am to 12:15pm CST. PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE ON THIS EVENT!
=Ken Smoller is coming back into town and he's bringing a box of his award winning book Last Comiskey along with him. Come out, buy one, and get it autographed! He'll be at Kaiser Tiger (1415 W. Randolph in Chicago) on November 17th, from 6-8pm. Put it on your calendar now.
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=Coming soon to Faith Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn, our very own Jeff Reiter. From the church bulletin...
Faith member, Jeff Reiter, will share on his new book, The Best of Words on Birds, drawn from his Daily Herald column. The heart of Jeff's book is an invitation to consider the birds whether through serious birding or just noticing a bird out your back window. Even the most casual bird watching gives us a reason to "power down and take note of our surroundings. It slows us down and sometimes stops us in our tracks." Copies of The Best of Words on Birds are available at the church office ($20) and at the forum.
=Bob Conlon will be signing books and making a presentation at this year's IBAM (Irish Books and Music), November 22 and 23 at the Irish American Heritage center (4626 N Knox Ave). Get your tickets for that fun event here.
=Eric Litt is another movie writer for Eckhartz Press. He sat down this week last year to do a Q&A about his new book. You can read that here.
=This week in 2021 (November 5), Randy Merkin announced the release of his book Behind the Glass live on the air on ESPN Radio in Chicago.
=Robert Feder also wrote about Randy's book in the Daily Herald (November 8).
=This week in 2022, Chuck Swirsky was making the rounds promoting his book Always a Pleasure. He did two hours on the radio with Steve Rosenbloom on the Score (November 5), and he also appeared on WGN-TV (November 8)
=And finally, this week is the birthday (November 5) of the late great basketball titan, Bill Walton. Chuck wrote about him in his book as well.
=This week in 2022 (November 4), Rick Kaempfer kicked off the publicity campaign to his coming-of-age spy novel Back in the DDR with an interview on WGN Radio. That interview is here.
=It's not a coincidence that the book came out the same week the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 (November 9). Rick took this first photo of the wall in 1976, the year the book takes place. It appears on the back cover of the book. The second photo was taken just a few weeks after the wall came down. That's Rick and his brother Peter. Lots of stretches like this still existed. It's completely gone now. The third photo is from last summer. Rick is standing outside the East German secret police headquarters (STASI), which has been turned into a museum.
=This week in 2021, Grammar Moses author Jim Baumann was making the rounds promoting his book. He appeared on this podcast with Steve Cochran (November 3), and the Minutia Men Celebrity Interview the next day (November 4). Two days later he was in Elgin, signing and selling copies of Grammar Moses. The pandemic was still raging, and our intrepid author was out there fully masked.
Records Truly Is My Middle Name
=This week in 1882, the Dow Jones was founded. Not many people know this, but early in his career, John Landecker actually went by the name Dow Jones on the air. This is the only known picture of Dow Jones, taken outside the radio station in Michigan.
=This week in 2013, John Landecker appeared on Pete McMurray's show on WGN Radio to talk about the book.
=This week in 2017, John was on the air at WBEZ Radio, and WGN-TV talking about the new Hall of Fame edition of the book. His daughter Amy joined him on the WGN TV set.
=One of the contributors to Records Truly Is My Middle Name, Catherine Johns, is celebrating a birthday this week (November 3). She tells a few very memorable stories about Landecker in the book. Co-author Rick Kaempfer ran into Catherine just recently at the No Kings March in Mt. Prospect.
=This week in 2018 (November 5), Chet Coppock had the single-biggest-selling day in the life of his book. He spoke at the Polish American Alliance in Westmont, and every single attendee (over 200) bought a copy of the book. Chet was in rare form that day.
=The Eckhartz Press book Righteous Might takes place on the USS Gerald R. Ford. Now, if you happen to go on that ship, you can read Righteous Might in the ship's library. We got a letter this week (November 6) in 2020 from the ship's Captain. What an honor. Congrats to author Keith Conrad!
=This week in 2016, Eckhartz Press author Mark Gelinas was featured on a local television station in Atlanta (WSB-TV). Mark passed away a few years later, but this interview, and the book lives on. Mark's story will always remain an inspiration.
=This week in 2014 (November 4), Rick Kaempfer was out and about promoting his humor book Father Knows Nothing. As a bonus for the readers of the book, he released these bonus audio tracks on our website. Two of the boys featured in the book (Tommy & Johnny) come to life via these timeless audio clips.
=This week in 2018 (November 9), Windy City Reviews came out with a review of the Eckhartz Press book Cameo. Here's what they had to say about the book....
Cameo, by Beth Jacobellis, is an interweaving of the past, its impact on the present, and how our feelings can get in the way of understanding what is pulling us through to the future. The book begins in the present, but we are quickly transported to the cameo’s present life in 1994 and then again through vignettes from 1885, 1976 and 1989. Cameo is a charming story to read. It is not a long book, but this type of love story, with layers of the past all playing out at the same time, draws us into Samantha’s quest and carries us through a briskly-paced read. I enjoyed this book for its clear storytelling and mysterious overtones. I also found it refreshing that the past is not always looking to punish but merely to resolve.
=This week (November 9) in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, Bob Boone gave a talk about his collection of short stories, City U, via zoom. The virtual author event actually took place in Glencoe, but this was around the time we started figuring out that we are no longer confined by our location.
